"It's an honor to have the opportunity to visit with our troops to see the work they're doing firsthand. I want them to know how incredibly proud we are of them in Wisconsin, and we look forward to welcoming them home as soon as possible." Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and his wife served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Tunisia in the 1960's.

Gov. Jim Doyle was set to go to Baghdad today as part of a bipartisan delegation of governors visiting National Guard troops in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East, his office announced today.

Doyle left Sunday and spent Monday in Kuwait visiting troops from Wisconsin. He plans to return to Wisconsin early next week.

On Monday night, Doyle had dinner with soldiers from Wisconsin at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, where he met with soldiers from the Camp Douglas-based 32nd Brigade Headquarters.

Some of those soldiers were featured in a live video hookup during last week's State of the State speech, his office said.

Doyle said in a prepared statement: "It's an honor to have the opportunity to visit with our troops to see the work they're doing firsthand. I want them to know how incredibly proud we are of them in Wisconsin, and we look forward to welcoming them home as soon as possible."

In Kuwait, Doyle also visited the Kuwait Naval Base and met with soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery from Wisconsin Rapids; Camp Navistar, where he met with soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry from Appleton; and Camp Buehring, where he met with soldiers from the 2nd Battalion 128th Infantry from Madison.

The governors were traveling under an invitation from the State Department and Department of Defense. Other governors from around the country have visited National Guard troops from their states serving in Iraq and throughout southwest Asia.

Doyle has made it a priority of his administration to attend send-offs and welcome home ceremonies for Wisconsin troops. The governor has also attended 43 of the 52 funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and related operations, and has hosted private receptions at the governor's mansion for military families.

In an interview last month, Doyle told The Capital Times that he believes service members and their families should be recognized for their sacrifices, regardless of how anyone feels about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nearly 2,000 Wisconsin National Guard troops are serving in that area.

E-mail: dcallender@madison.com Published: January 24, 2006

When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in dangerWhen the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

PC establishes awards for top VolunteersGaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9.

Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 yearsCongratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now.

'Celebration of Service' a major successThe Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here.

PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident"The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted.

The Peace Corps LibraryPeace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

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Story Source: The Capital Times

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Tunisia; Politics; State Government; Military; Iraq

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